Teacher hauls in monster mackerel

Teacher Kev Visser landed this 36kg spaniard alone in a 4.8m tinny.

Sheree Mcarthur Photography

HOLY mackerel!

Sunshine Coast school teacher Kev Visser hooked this 36kg monster at Gneering Shoals, about 6km off Mooloolaba, on Sunday.

Kev, 26, of Kawana, said it took him 15 minutes to bring in the spanish mackerel - and it required quite a balancing act to gaff it. He said he had taken his 4.8m tinnie out to have a quiet fish by himself, trawling near the shoals.

"I thought I'd hooked a nearby boat when it first took," he said.

But when it ran, it was another story.

Kev, who teaches woodwork and graphics at Siena Catholic College at Sippy Downs, said the fish took more than 100m of line before it turned. It ran for about five minutes.

"It was quite a buzz seeing this huge fish come up right next to me," he said.

"I could hardly believe it.

"But when I brought it up, it disappeared underneath the boat."

Then came the wait.

Kev, whose elder brother is big-wave surfer Mark Visser, began reeling the fish in.

When he got it to the side of the boat again, he took the rod in one hand, and swung the gaff with the other, pulling the mackerel into the boat.

Kev, who grew up around Kawana and Maroochydore, said he had been fishing all his life.

"But this fish is special," he said.

Before Sunday, the biggest mackerel he had landed with a rod was about 6kg, though he had taken an 18kg one while spearfishing.

And Kev's plan for his prize?

"A big barbecue on the weekend."